This King flies away, ye mortals [✱17]

Posted on Mon Jun 9th, 2025 @ 1:41pm by Captain Rovak & Atonu & Tyr & Lord Akhenaten

1,168 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Serpent's Tooth [3]
Location: Courtroom, Deck 85 - DS13
Timeline: 0915 - MD10

“I am Atonu. Named for the Aten, meaning daughter of the son of the Aten. Yet I have never seen the Aten. I know not it’s voice, nor it’s ways. I am merely my father’s daughter. He is Akhenaten, Pharaoh of Karnak. My mother was Amarna, she too was a Goa’uld in a human body. Because of this, I am Harcesis. And yet, from what I learn of your Federation, you claim to respect all cultures and ways of life.” She stopped to look around after the opening, some seemed struck by the thought she described, as much as her potent charisma.

“Yes, we have asked you for asylum, but we have not asked you to judge our culture, nor do I think you seek to. And that I think is at the heart of these accusations, what the Goa’uld and Jaffa among the Atenists are accused of is nothing more than continuing millennia of their cherished traditions and cultural norms.” Atonu turned to Rovak.

“The System Lords are war criminals as you describe, let there be no mistake. Yet the way of the Aten teaches atonement and mercy, even for the foulest of criminals, so long as they pursue truth and light in the honest ways of the Aten.” She moved from her side of the bench to the opposite, speaking directly to the Captain, without bothering to turn to the audience.

“Typhon was forgiven his crimes by the Aten, and he has not traded in weapons since renouncing the Oranic Council of the System Lords. So too Hera, despite her more recent sins, is to our eyes, obviously reformed and changed by the Pharaoh’s teachings. I realise to many it is a shock, your people still suffer from her treachery. But for a Goa’uld to resist the urge to annihilate all who have resisted them is as a moribund addict to resist the substance that enthralls them. That she would simply flee without attempting to murder us all is unprecedented.”

“The Asgard Tyr is right. The Goa’uld are a race whose existence has always been at the expense of others. That is why the way of the Aten is to end the lineage of the Goa’uld. The Harcesis is feared because it represents the evolution of the parasite into an asset of its host, the sacrifice of the master for the slave.”

“As Harcesis I say to you honestly, the claims of our powers are gross exaggerations. I am oldest of the children of the Aten, yet I know only fragments of the minds of my ancestors. In time, with experience, they are revealed to me, but I am not the destroyer they would depict me as.” Atonu said, finally turning back to the audience.

“They speak of ascension, but we cannot even recall the lost technologies of our recent forebears. We fled here in Ha’taks that have been in service for centuries. Their fear of ascension can be traced to a single source; before the overthrow of the System Lords, a Harcesis child was taken by an ascended being known as Oma Desala. She brought the child to enlightenment, and he revealed to the people of Earth what would become of any who learned the secrets of ascension, even second-hand.”

“The child showed them a future where they would annihilate one another to recolour their maps. And yet, this tragedy never befell them. Even as several among them ascended and they found the secrets of our Galaxy’s most ancient races, they did not destroy themselves along sectarian lines as the Harcesis told them they would. They speak of the power of the Harcesis as inescapable, but in 5000 years of Goa’uld dominance, not a one has been able to eliminate the Asgard or any of the races that hold technological superiority.” She took a sip from a glass of water at her bench.

“The Tau’ri have compacts with the Goa’uld that require them to kill Harcesis. I will say it again, because it is of vital importance to what is claimed here. The Tau’ri have compacts with the Goa’uld that require them to kill Harcesis. It is one of the conditions of the peace that was struck after the death of the Supreme System Lord Oranos. You try us, not them, but I implore the court to ask this question of those who would seek our extradition.”

“I would also point out that there are many Goa’uld who are allies to the Tau’ri. Only they call themselves Tok’ra, like the Engineer Polyphron. This distinction mitigates any genetic guilt as Goa’uld. She had no qualm in enabling the assault on this station, the corruption of its systems, and yet she is released without charge. My only request of the Federation, on behalf of my father, on behalf of the Aten itself, is that you judge us not by the experience of the Tau’ri on what our people once were, but rather judge us on what you have seen us to be.”

“The Tau’ri have compacts with the Goa’uld that require them to kill Harcesis. Ask yourself if this is behaviour your Federation would tolerate from its allies, or its members. Judge us only by what we have done in your sight, not that which they would claim we are responsible for as members and descendants of a particular species.”

Atonu sat, and Rovak repositioned shuffled slightly in his seat. He had not expected her to be so persuasive, and there were no outright deceptions that the trio of jurors had perceived.

Something appeared on the display on the bench in front of Rovak, and he reviewed it, slipping his glasses on for a moment. He removed them again, and looked out among those present. "I have just received word from Starfleet command. In light of the events that followed the treaty-signing ceremony, I have consulted with Starfleet command on the best way to proceed, and they have accepted my suggestion." Rovak said.

"In the interests of peace and harmony between our peoples, regardless of how this trial unfolds, with the authorisation of Starfleet Command and the office of the President, I am declaring an amnesty for all Atenists for any actions they may have taken at any stage from arrival, until this moment. I do this because despite the disruption and alarm of the insurgency, no Starfleet lives were lost, and all injured seem to be recovering. If however that should change, or there should be permanent harm diagnosed among our many injured, those responsible will be held accountable, even if it should take place after the conclusion of this tribunal." Rovak explained.

"I call the first named among the accused to the stand. Pharaoh Akhenaten."

The dignified old Pharaoh blinked from his position on the benches to the side of Rovak's judge's bench, to the witness stand directly in front of the bench.

RSS Feed